There are a number of surgical procedures such as laminectomies and discectomies which use appliances for fixing adjacent vertebrae relative to each other. Many of these appliances use bone screws or bone bolts for attaching braces or rods to the vertebrae.
Bone screws are typically implanted into surgical openings formed in the pedicle portions of the vertebrae. After the bone is exposed, a probe is used to form a starting hole in the pedicle and is then removed so that an x-ray marker can be inserted to verify the pedicle hole position through fluoroscopy. After the position of the pedicle hole has been verified, another instrument, a tap, is used to enlarge each hole to an appropriate diameter for the pedicle screw or bone bolt that will be used in the procedure.
Presently known probes have handles formed integral with the probe body or shaft. When these instruments are used, a separate operative step is required for insertion of an x-ray marker. Another probe exists which has a handle that disengages, however, this device does not have depth markings nor an x-ray marker for indicating left and right positions. It would be advantageous to have a bone probe having depth markings with an x-ray marker having an indicator for left and right determinations and a removable handle so that instead of removing a probe and inserting a separate x-ray marker, the handle can simply be removed to achieve the same results.